Map of Underground Railroad

via Times News

When playing the new board game created by Mayer Foner, you don’t pass go or collect $200, and you don’t spin the Life wheel.

But you could be captured and returned to slavery.

A Game About the Pennsylvania Underground Railroad 1820 to 1870 is an educational game where each player becomes a freedom seeker who has to make it from southern Pennsylvania to a safe haven in a southern New York town. The goal is to attain freedom before a slave catcher can capture you.

Each player gets 35 turns to make it to the target region.

Whether you reach freedom or are captured, the true goal of the game is to gain a deeper understanding of a difficult period in our nation’s history, Foner said.

“It’s very important to get a topic where we uncover the past,” said Foner, a Harrisburg resident who has created a few other history-based games involving Pennsylvania.

Through his latest game, players navigate 115 stops of the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania. The game includes a color map of 1800’s Pennsylvania, dice, player pieces and more.

Mentioned on the map are two suspected Underground Railroad stops in Erie County — one at the Daniel Dobbins House in the city and another in Waterford.

Another local mention comes through one of the historical events cards with the game. One refers to the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.) and the freedom trail.

Although not specifically mentioned in the board game, the St. James A.M.E. Church, 236 E. 11th St., is the oldest African-American church in the city of Erie and it was a known Underground Railroad stop. According to the Rev. Eugene Schoolfield, pastor of the church, it was one of the last stops for runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad. Schoolfield said that after being fed and clothed, the freedom seekers would move on to North East, where they would get passage to Canada and, ultimately, to freedom.

Schoolfield said he thought slavery was a good issue to learn about and the topic is unique when it comes to board games. He said the interactive event cards allow the players to imagine the setting and attitudes of the times.

So could this game be used in schools?

Jeff Lane, a curriculum facilitator for Millcreek Township School District, said that as long as games such as this one fit the curriculum, he thinks they are good learning tools.

“Our approach is that any of those types of tools that can make a historical event seem more real and tangible, would be something we would use,” said Lane, who has been with the district for 34 years.

A Game About the Pennsylvania Underground Railroad 1820 to1870 costs $24.70, with tax, plus the cost of shipping. For more information or to order the game, e-mail Foner at maygam1@verizon.net.